New gallery in LimeBits helps you find copyable websites

LimeBits, the open-source community for website and webcode development, hosting, and sharing, has released many enhancements between January and August 2009. LimeBits is in public alpha release and is free of charge.

Platform usability

• Gallery of copyable websites available on LimeBits
• Interface for mapping external domain names into LimeBits websites
• Revamped and improved Copy and Configure actions
• Improved Axis library usability, added features
• Enabled copying from member subdomains

App improvements

• Sample PartySites
• Plugin to enable TiddlyWiki on LimeBits
• Scrapbook enhancements
• Multifile uploader
• Improved WikiBit and WikiSite reliability

Site content

• White paper on LimeBits
• Major revisions of homepage
• Documented Axis library

Featured app portals

• Launched PartySites portal
• Launched TiddlyWiki portal

Behind the scenes

• Server performance speedups
• Injection of LimeBits bar
• Improved auth/login reliability
• Improved error page creation
• Sped up homepage loading
• Improved caching accuracy and performance
• Faster deployments
• Automation for file merge in deploy
• Global styling for LimeBits site pages
• Configurable LimeBits bar

LimeBits 0.26.0 was released on August 13, 2009.

Coming soon

• Tagging for gallery
• Redesigned member workspace

LimeBits presentation in New York City

LimeBits: Copyable, shareable websites via JavaScript

Abstract. Website authors and web developers constantly reinvent the wheel. Thousands of developers annually spend millions of hours building sites from scratch, even though most websites have similar function and structure to other sites. Developers don't easily benefit from one another's work because most code is hidden, uncopyable, on the server.

Unlike traditional websites, all code and content files in LimeBits sites are externally visible, easily copyable, and customizable. Authors and developers browse existing, open-source websites hosted on LimeBits, find one that already works with desired features, customize a copy of it to suit, deploy it, and thereby share it back to the community. Sites are usually customized and extended, rather than built from scratch.

The LimeBits server is a passive storage device, driven by browser JavaScript. Authors and developers do no server-side programming, installation, or configuration. Websites on LimeBits store data and state via JavaScript using the standard WebDAV (REST-style) protocol. Read/write access controls and versioning are available.

LimeBits is a public platform for website development, hosting, and sharing. It's currently in alpha deployment and is open for improvement and public participation.

Jonathan A. Marshall is a computer scientist and senior software developer interested in expanding the use and acceptance of free/open-source ethics and technologies.

LimeBits 0.8 released

Release history

• 0.8   2008-12-16
• 0.8.1   2008-12-18

New features

• AXIS javascript library, easing code development
• BlabBit comment wall, powered by AXIS

In the works for 0.9

• Improved Copy experience
• AXIS documentation
• many other features

LimeBits 0.7 released!

Release history

• 0.7   2008-10-07
• 0.7.1   2008-10-23
• 0.7.2   2008-11-20

New features

• Faster performance
• Scrapbook-style homepage
• WikiBit and TiddlyWiki
• Arcade games and strategy games
• Firefox 3 compatibility
• Password reset

In the works for 0.8

• New JavaScript framework
• JavaScript library for WebDAV
• many other features

LimeBits 0.6 ALPHA

We released LimeBits 0.6 and 0.6.1 in July. The key new feature is improved (single sign-on) authentication. Now you don't have to log into each LimeBits user's site; just log in once.

We're working on LimeBits 0.7. The main feature on the 0.7 roadmap is Firefox 3 compatibility.

How to make websites shareable - REALLY shareable

By Jonathan A. Marshall | May 2, 2008
Originally posted on LimeWire Blog

"Sharing my website is easy.  Anybody can see whatever I put there, right?"

Not quite.  Although you may share webpages on your website, you're not actually sharing the site.

Most websites generate some webpages dynamically (running a program that creates a new, customized version of the page instantly) and then show it on your browser.  It shows your FaceBook profile when you're logged in, but mine when I'm logged in.

I can get a static snapshot of your website by viewing or copying your webpages.  But there's no easy way for me to capture the dynamic behavior of your site, because the programs that create each version of your dynamic webpages are hidden.  There's no easy way for me to get those programs from the webserver, nor for you to make them available to me.

Even if I could get them, they're designed to run on a webserver, not my PC.  And even if I had a webserver, I'd need to understand how to install and configure the dynamic software — specialized knowledge beyond the skills of most people.

LimeBits changes all that.  LimeBits makes it possible for you to share your whole site — static pages and dynamic page-generating programs.  If you share your site on LimeBits, I can get my own fully-functioning copy of your entire site, including dynamics.

LimeBits is a new web platform that makes sharing of dynamic websites easy.  There's no visible difference between traditional websites and LimeBits sites.  But under the hood, LimeBits sites work differently.

JavaScript is the universal programming language in all browsers.  LimeBits makes your browser's JavaScript more powerful.  It gives your browser a standard way to save data to a webserver.  With LimeBits, your browser's JavaScript programs may save state information, documents, or any other data, using the WebDAV standard.

WebDAV is important not just because it's an international standard (and supported by Microsoft, Apple, Sun, Adobe, GNU/Linux, and others), but also because it provides features for enhanced security, collaboration, querying, and version tracking.

LimeBits's WebDAV server is flexible enough to take over some of the functions formerly handled by special-purpose server programs, such as content-management systems, blog systems, and even database systems.  LimeBits's WebDAV server handles the storage, security, querying, and retrieval.

LimeBits goes one step further — a giant step.  LimeBits pushes the special-purpose programs out of the server, and into your browser, using JavaScript.  For example, LimeBits's blog is actually a JavaScript program in your browser, rather than on a webserver.  It uses the LimeBits WebDAV server for storage and retrieval, so that everyone can read the blog comments that you post.

If you have a LimeBits website, it works in everyone's browser normally, no software installation required.  The difference is that your website is fully shareable, including the dynamics.

Why is sharing important?  It makes dynamic websites easier — within reach of novices, not just specialists.

Instead of starting from scratch, you start from someone else's fully working LimeBits website.  You find a site you like and then click LimeBits's Copy button. Now you just customize your copy: insert your own name, your pictures, etc., while keeping the site's dynamic features in place.

Because LimeBits websites are fully sharable, they lend themselves perfectly to the open-source model.  That is, LimeBits users form a community whose members are free to improve on one another's work.  If I write a JavaScript blogging program, you can freely copy it from my LimeBits website, and modify or improve it for your own website.  Because browsers download your JavaScript program, it is then available for further modification.

LimeBits is meant for sharing.  Its unique architecture eases and speeds the process of putting your own creations online.

LimeBits 0.4 ALPHA

We released LimeBits 0.4 today. The release includes:

• Navigation improvements
• Secure (SSL) signup
• Community forums — bugs, features, general
• Improved file locking
• Improved mount of LimeBits as filesystem
• Scrapbook — image raise depth

LimeBits is hiring! See our job openings

Our team is growing as we build the platform to support LimeBits — the next major Internet paradigm.

Check out our Jobs section.

Game software contributed to LimeBits

LimeBits community member Jason Pelzer wrote and contributed a Breakout game program. We've added it to our list of Featured programs. Thanks, Jason!

Peruse Jason's program and see how it works. Use our Copy button and make your own modifications.

LimeBits 0.3 ALPHA release

We're happy to release version 0.3. The most important new feature is the LimeBits Finder. This makes it easier for you to navigate your folders and to browse and copy websites and components.

We've also added some new demo programs: Commenting and the Scrapbook. These show off some cool features of LimeBits. What makes the Commenting program different from similar programs is that it runs entirely on your computer (client-side PC); it uses our server only for storage and sharing of the text of the comments.

The Scrapbook is a new kind of webpage, in which objects (such as images) are movable. Arrange and decorate your Scrapbook page for fun and profit.

Use these programs as examples and make your own variations!

We've also fixed bugs and made LimeBits more robust.

LimeBits 0.2 ALPHA release

We want feedback from LimeBits visitors and users. Please feel free to create a free account and test Lime Bits out.

The current release is still very raw-looking, but it has most of the LimeBits core functionality.

Future releases will have more features, including:

• Cleaner interface and simpler user experience
• Javascript read-write access library to facilitate WebDAV server storage and access control
• Sample Javascript applications that demonstrate how to take advantage of the power of WebDAV

If you want to get involved in helping us build the Lime Bits community, please contact us at feedback(at)limebits(dot)com.

Thanks for trying LimeBits! We welcome and encourage your comments and suggestions.

Welcome to LimeBits !

LimeBits lets ordinary users easily create powerful websites. It simplifies creation of websites with advanced, dynamic behavior – no programming or system administration are needed.

LimeBits websites are shared. Users can copy the design and components they like from existing LimeBits websites, and then easily customize.

For advanced users, LimeBits provides an innovative framework and ecosystem in which to create, customize, upgrade, and disseminate web software and web services.

Until now, websites have come in two flavors: static and dynamic:

• Static sites are easy to create using HTML, but they don't do much beyond display.
• Dynamic sites can be interactive and collaborative but are harder to create – requiring knowledge of programming languages and database systems, as well as system administration (select hosting provider, install and configure software packages, etc.).